1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanning system including a scan service on the Internet and a scanner device on a local network.
The present invention also relates to a printing system including a print service on the Internet and a printing device on a local network.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-speed, large-capacity networks, and SaaS (Software as a Service) which provides a software function as a service on the Internet to reduce the cost of office information infrastructures and the like are becoming widespread. Conventionally, a system built on a local network in an office and the like for the purpose of business support and the like is provided as a service on the Internet. Such a service will be called a “business service”.
Even a printing system which has conventionally been built on a local network in an office or the like is being provided as a service on the Internet. This service manages devices such as a multi-function peripheral and printer on a local network, and print jobs generated by these devices. A device having a print function such as a multi-function peripheral or printer will be called a “printer device”. A device having a scan function such as a multi-function peripheral or scanner will be called a “scanner device”. Further, a multi-function peripheral, printer, or scanner will be generically called a “device”. A service which manages such a device on a local network in cooperation with the device will be called a “document service”.
The business service and document service can cooperate with each other. A document created by the business service can be printed by a printer device on a local network via the document service.
In terms of security, a firewall is set between a local network and the Internet, and inhibits the document service on the Internet from directly accessing a device on the local network. Hence, the document service issues an instruction to a device according to the following configuration/order.
(1) The user displays a web page provided by the document service on a web browser running on a PC on a local network.
(2) The user operates the web browser to set a function (for example, printing or scanning) to be executed by a device. When the user designates execution, the setting contents and execution instruction are transferred from the web browser to the document service.
(3) The document service generates a response containing a managed/stored device address and a redirect instruction to the address, and transfers it to the web browser. At this time, information to be redirected by the redirect instruction contains the setting contents and execution instruction.
(4) The web browser redirects, to the device address, the response received from the document service.
(5) The device receives the redirected response. The device executes processing according to the received setting contents.
In the above-described processing sequence, for print processing, information to be redirected in step (3) contains even position information (for example, URL (Uniform Resource Locator)) of a document to be printed. In step (5), the printer device downloads the document to be printed, based on the position information, and prints it (pull print).
In addition, the document service can provide a device UI customization unit. Recent devices incorporate a web browser, similar to a PC. A web browser running on the PC will be simply referred to as a “web browser”, and a web browser running on the device will be referred to as a “built-in web browser”. The document service generates a web page for providing pre-defined operability apposite for each user, and transfers it to the device. The device displays this web page on the built-in web browser and can provide a customized UI. In this case, operation instructions are issued from the document service to the device in the same order as that of (1) to (5) described above.
Recently, the document service needs to cope with not only printing but also scanning. More specifically, a scanner device on a local network scans an original to generate an electronic document (to be referred to as a “document”) via the document service. In cooperation with the business service, the generated document is transferred to the business service.
When the user issues a scan instruction to the scanner device from a remote terminal such as a PC, the scanner device may scan an original he does not want, because he is not present near the scanner device. Examples of this problem are as follows:
When the user designates scanning from the PC, the scanner device may scan an original another user forgot to pick up.
Before the user gets back to the PC and designates scanning after setting an original on the scanner device, another user may replace the original.
To solve this problem, there is proposed a method of permitting a scan instruction to the scanner device only from the operation unit of the scanner device main body (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-265498).
According to the conventional technique, a scan instruction from the web browser of a PC is a remote scan instruction and thus cannot be executed. In cooperation with the business service, it is necessary to use the business service on the web browser of a PC, and perform scanning by the document service on the built-in web browser of a scanner device. Since cooperation between the two services is physically cut, the user needs to designate these services cumbersomely by inputting information which associates them. For example, the user needs to designate communication between the two services using a communication ID generated upon a call for the document service from the business service, or specify a transfer destination using a destination to the business service to which a scanned document is transferred.
There is also a need to operate a customized device UI from the web browser of a PC via the document service because of the following two reasons:
The PC includes a large screen, mouse, and keyboard, and is sometimes more convenient than the operation unit of the device.
The device is shared in an office. However, when the user operates and occupies the device in front of it, he may feel a psychological burden such as consideration to other users.
However, the conventional technique inhibits scanning from the web browser of a PC.
When the user issues a print instruction to the printer device from a remote terminal such as a PC, sheets may be left or carried away because he is not present near the printer device. To solve this, a print instruction to the printer device may be permitted only from the operation unit of the printer device main body. However, this method has the same problems as the above-described problems of scanning.